Saturday, May 26, 2012

It's never too early to post some bicentennial goodness from 1976. Captain America #200 is one of my favorite comics. It was one of my first exposures to my favorite Marvel hero and his co-creator, the great Jack "King" Kirby. I never get tired of looking at Kirby's action filled panels and poses. I especially like the splash from this particular issue.

And if anyone has any doubt how the story turned out, the last panel of the story explains it all.

It would be cool if one of the Captain America sequels would have the Falcon in it and be reminiscent of this era of the character. I'd go to see any Cap movie but I'd be doubly excited if they did do this version. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the 70's Kirby Cap.

Monday, May 07, 2012

Like most of America, I went and saw the highly anticipated Avengers movie this past weekend. I didn't have very high expectations for it for a variety of reasons, the foremost of which is that I didn't think director Joss Whedon would be able to juggle so many characters in one film. Fortunately I was very wrong. It was a highly entertaining superhero romp that felt more like reading a comic book than any other comic book movie I've seen in recent years. The plot was a standard alien invasion, good vs. evil story and it worked wonderfully. There was a great dynamic between the team, especially between Iron Man and Captain America. Cap is my favorite Marvel hero and for the second movie in a row, he was portrayed perfectly by Chris Evans. It's the Cap I've always wanted to see on the big screen. All the other characters were also well represented throughout the movie by their respective actors. This beautiful piece of concept art released several months before the film came out pretty much captures the excitement I had once the alien invasion finale commenced.

Like the other Marvel movies, the concept art has been simply spectacular. Here are a couple more pieces that brought the characters to life even before filming began.

For more great art like this, check out The Art Of The Avengers and just marvel (pun intended) at the images within. And get down to your local multiplex, or in my case, childhood theater, and check out one of the best superhero movies ever made. You won't be disappointed.